Winter Weaknesses
by TheKeeperOfOathsAndLoyalty
Summary: Jaime shows up in the North with no Lannister army but a hell of a lot of angsty feelings. Brienne is completely oblivious. Everyone see's that they are in love. Very slow burner.
1. Chapter 1

The gates to Winterfell opened and Brienne saw him instantly despite being far away. She walked over to the gates and heard him arguing with the guards.

"This is not a trick, I need to speak to the King of the North and the Dragon Queen. It's very important and you need to let me in now." He said, not having noticed Brienne approaching him, Bronn and the guards.

"If you are who you say you are why would you be here?" Asked one of the guards.

"How about you don't make the same mistake as you did with not believing Lady Arya and let Ser Jaime and Ser Bronn in." Said Brienne, who was now right by the men with Jaime looking at her.

She would not look at him. She had been so angry following their encounter in the Dragonpit that she had not spoken for days on the journey back to Winterfell. It was all well and good that Cersei had agreed to send troops to the North to help the battle of the dead and Brienne was happy about that.

She was however, not happy about the way Jaime had turned her back on her in the Dragonpit and acted so cold towards her. It made her unable to think about Jaime as anything but the man he was when they had first met. He was firmly back under Cersei's thumb and her puppet. She admired his loyalty and sense of honour when it came to his sister but even she knew with her idealistic perceptions of honour and loyalty that there comes a point in which a person has to push beyond that.

She could not look at him because she knew it would break her heart.

"If you say so." Said the guard and moving out of the way to let Jaime and Bronn, who had already dismounted their horses and were walking in.

Jaime was still looking at Brienne.

"You could try and look a little happier to see me wench." He said, smirking at her.

She didn't know what made her do it but it felt ridiculously good. She slapped Jaime and turned to walk towards Pod.

"I'm going to let everyone know that they are here. Please can you take them to the main hall whilst I do so?" She asked the young boy.

" I y-y-yes m-my lady."

"Thank you Podrick."

With that, she walked inside to find King Jon, Queen Daenerys and Lady Sansa, fully aware that everyone in the courtyard was staring at her with their mouths wide open after what she did to Jaime.


	2. Chapter 2

They were all gathered in the great hall of Winterfell ready to decide Jaime's fate. Brienne stood by Sansa's side, desperately trying not to look at Jaime but failing dramatically. They were waiting for Bran and Arya as Sansa had insisted on their presence at the meeting considering what the Lannister's had done to the Stark's it seemed appropriate.

Bran and Arya finally arrived and Brienne noticed Jaime flinch. She did not understand why but the presence of the final two Stark children had visibly unsettled him. With the two children finally in the room, the Dragon Queen spoke.

"Jaime Lannister- the Kingslayer. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Kings Landing with your sister?" There was a slight sneer in her voice as she addressed Jaime.

Jaime's eyes flickered from Queen Daenerys and over to Brienne. She was willing him in her head to answer and to not say anything that could rile up those in the room.

"I am hear because Cersei lied to you all and I thought you should know."

"Most people would send a raven, you really shouldn't have come all this way. What do you mean she lied?" Asked Daenerys still sneering at Jaime which was really starting to irritate Brienne.

"She isn't sending armies to help. She lied to you all and deceived you. I am here to fight with you and so is Bronn. I know its not the thousands of men you were promised but I hope you will let us fight alongside you. I made a promise and I intend to keep it." With his last sentence, Jaime turned back to Brienne once again and this time she met his eyes rather than desperately avoiding them as she had been doing previously.

"Yes, because you are so well known for keeping your promises. Just like you kept the promise to protect my father. Why should I trust you and not murder you here and now? You don't keep promises and do not have a shred of honour. You cannot be trusted." Daenerys was practically shouting now.

Brienne was so angry and the Dragon Queen. She didn't like the way that she was so eager to judge Jaime when she didn't even know him.

"I trust him." She said without even thinking.

Everyone turned to look at her and Jaime was staring at her wide eyed.

"I am not justifying anything Ser Jaime or his family has done but I can promise you all that he can be trusted. He has saved my life more than once and he is an honourable man. He would be an asset to us in the war due to all of his experience and I really think you should let him live. He came to tell us that we had all been misled and he did so with good intentions and honour." Brienne knew that she shouldn't have spoken out of place but something within her compelled her to do so.

The room was silent for what felt like a life time until Tyrion spoke up too.

"Lady Brienne is right. My brother is here to do the right thing and I think we can trust his word."

Brienne was grateful for Tyrion speaking up too and was shocked to hear Sansa speak up too.

"I trust Lady Brienne and if she trusts Ser Jaime then I do too. Winterfell has just enough space for Ser Jaime and Ser Bronn to stay. Brienne will keep an eye on Ser Jaime to ensure he really does have honourable intentions here and if you deem it necessary, Arya can do the same with Ser Bronn." Sansa said, turning to Queen Daenerys.

The Queen thought for a moment and looked over to Jon Snow who proceeded to nod at her.

"Very well. The North is your home so I cannot tell you who you can have here or not. They may stay but under a watchful eye."

The look on Jaime's face was one of relief and he stared directly at Brienne as everyone began to leave the room.


	3. Chapter 3

She was desperate to try and leave the room before Jaime spoke to her but that was proving to be impossible as they were almost the last two people in the room. As she walked towards the door she felt a hand on her arm. She spun around to find Jaime looking at her. She supressed a sigh and decided that she should probably talk to him. She should also probably apologise for slapping him earlier on in the day but she was still angry and didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"Brienne. What you did just then. You really didn't have to do that." He said, smiling at her.

She couldn't breathe properly and had no idea why. She couldn't even get the words out. She didn't even know what she wanted to say to him.

"Why are you here Ser Jaime?" Was all that she could manage to say.

"You know why. You heard what I said back there." He responded, now suddenly unable to meet her eyes.

"I know what you said but you came here knowing full well that you were placing yourself in danger." She said in a soft, almost whisper.

"I had made a promise that I wanted to keep. And besides, someone told me I should fuck loyalty so I thought I would. I thought you would be happy and yet the way you are being is full of very mixed signals. First you slap me and then you defend me." Jaime seemed very annoyed with her and she didn't get it. She hadn't done anything wrong except maybe humiliate herself in the dragon pit and slapped Jaime which he definitely deserved.

"You were a bit of an arse back in Kings Landing, Ser." She said, letting out a sigh.

Jaime let out a laugh at that which only annoyed Brienne even more. It was confusing for her to be so annoyed at him and yet she was. He was right. She should be happy that he was here and that they could at last fight side by side.

"I apologise for laughing my Lady. I was just overwhelmed by your honesty. I apologise for how I was but I was truly thrown off guard by what you said to me. It was very unlike you."

"This battle that we are in against the dead has changed everything Ser Jaime."

"Even the way you view loyalty and honour?" He enquired, raising and eyebrow at her.

"Yes."

"Interesting." Was all that Jaime said in response.

"I'm sorry for slapping you." Said Brienne in a very quiet voice.

He smiled at her warmly.

"Oh don't worry. I definitely deserved it and everyone seemed to find it very amusing. Besides, you made up for it with everything you said after that."

For the first time, she smiled at him back, properly meeting his eyes and letting herself become truly lost in them for the first time in what felt like a long time.

They must have been staring at each other without speaking for only a minute but it really felt like days had passed. They were interrupted when Tyrion re-entered the hall.

"My dear brother, come with me. I feel we have much to catch up on." He said, signalling for Jaime to join him.

Jaime obliged looking apologetically at Brienne and as the two brothers left the hall leaving Brienne their by herself she heard Tyrion say one last thing.

"You should tell her how you feel you know."


	4. Chapter 4

Brienne went back to her room and sat on her bed with a big sigh, her head spinning. The day had been a whirlwind and there was so much she needed to think about. More importantly, she couldn't get what Tyrion had said as he and Jaime left the room out of her head. She presumed she wasn't supposed to have heard it but that didn't stop her from reliving the words over and over in her head.

What did Tyrion mean? You should tell her how you feel? Was Tyrion implying that Jaime had feelings for Brienne. No, of course wasn't. How could she be so stupid to have even let that thought cross her mind. Jaime would never have feelings for her and she was a fool to even think that that was what Tyrion had been talking about.

Her and Jaime were friends and that is all they ever would be, Brienne knew that. It did not matter how she felt towards Jaime because she wasn't naive enough anymore to believe that what was between them could be anything more than friendship. Of course, she wanted it to be but she wasn't going to break her heart again like she did with Renly especially not over someone like Jaime Lannister.

Besides, they were in the middle of a war. There was no time for love and romance. Love. She wondered if she loved Jaime or whether it was just an infatuation.

Her thoughts were disrupted by a knock on her door.

"Brienne?" It was Jaime.

She walked over to the door and opened it, finding him grinning at her.

"Pod was going to come and tell you that everyone is gathering for dinner but I offered to do it for him. I figured its a chance for us to catch up further." He said, his grin spreading even more.

Brienne could sense herself blushing.

"Oh, yes of course." She slightly stammered without knowing why.

She stepped out of the door and shut it behind her. They walked in silence for a short while until she finally spoke up.

"Did you have a good talk with your brother? He appeared very pleased to see you." She asked, wondering if Jaime knew that she had heard what Tyrion had said.

"Its nice to finally be on the same side again. Its a relief after all this time."

"Yes, I can imagine it must be. Listen, I heard Tyrion say something as you left earlier." She didn't know why she had mentioned it and instantly regretted it afterwards.

Jaime had slowed down walking slightly and she sensed that he had tensed up. Brienne was uncertain about why he had responded like that, unless...

"I don't recall Tyrion saying anything, what was it you heard him say?" Jaime asked, stopping in the hallway just by the doors to the great hall they had previously been in earlier on that day.

Brienne turned to him, blushing slightly and noticed a glimmer in his eyes that she wrote off to be nothing worth focussing on.

"Oh, I was clearly mistaken then." She said lightly as her blush crept further and further over her. Brienne was fully aware that she was not mistaken.

She walked towards the doors to the hall and opened them and Jaime followed. As the walked in, she was sure she heard him say something under his breath.

"No, you weren't mistaken."


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone except the King in the North, the Dragon Queen and Sansa were in the hall when Brienne walked in followed by Jaime. A few of the men from the North were already visibly angered by the appearance of Jaime and Brienne made a mental note to be on alert for anyone who may wish to cause trouble with Jaime. She heard the words 'Kingslayer' thrown around as the two of them walked further into the hall and it angered Brienne. It did not really appear to be bothering Jaime as much and she knew this was because he was so used to it and probably because he came North realising that he would be greeted in such a fashion. If only people knew that Jaime did not deserve the name 'Kingslayer' or at least not with its negative connotations. He had saved thousands of people the day he murdered the Mad King and yet nobody knew this. Brienne would never forget that day in the bath at Harrenhal.

She was broken from her thoughts of righteousness towards Jaime when she caught Pod ushering them over to a table he was sat at. Pod was sat with Bronn, The Hound and Tyrion Lannister and part of Brienne really did not want to go over but she realised the only other space in the hall was on the same table as Tormund and that was something she truly wanted to avoid. She decided to sit with Pod, Bronn, The Hound, Tyrion and Jaime.

As they sat down at the table, Bronn spoke.

"There you two are! We were going to send young Pod to find you both but we didn't want to interrupt anything!"

Bronn had a ridiculous grin on his face and Brienne was fully aware what he meant and she felt her cheeks start to flush, which was only made worse when The Hound then proceeded to chime in to the conversation.

"Brienne of Tarth and Jaime fucking Lannister! Who would have thought! What happened with the poor Wildling then?"

Brienne was ready for the ground to open beneath her and swallow her up but unfortunately for her it did not. She glanced over at Jaime instead and saw him frowning a great deal, looking intensely at The Hound.

"What Wildling?" He asked, turning to look at her but instantly looking away when he saw The Hound signalling towards a red haired man who was quite noticeably staring at Brienne.

"He seems to be under the impression that you are going to be making giant babies with him." The Hound said grinning.

Out of the corner of her eye, Brienne noticed Jaime tense up after The Hound had said that. She could not figure out what was wrong with Jaime but he had been acting strangely all of that day.

"That will not be happening." Brienne snapped back at The Hound.

She was feeling horrendously uncomfortable with the whole conversation and was ready to get up and leave. The only thing that was stopping her from going was that she was unable to shake the need to be around Jaime. She would happily endure the teasing just to be sat next to him for a short amount of time.

Brienne noticed that Jaime no longer appeared tense but he still remained fairly silence. She thought he would relish the opportunity to tease her but she had been wrong. She wouldn't have even minded him teasing her, it was everyone else she had an issue with.

It was just then that Tyrion spoke up and showed that he too had finally acknowledged the bizarre behaviour of his brother.

"My dear brother, are you feeling well? You look positively peaky." Tyrion asked with a genuine look of concern on his face.

Brienne turned to look back at Jaime and had to agree with Tyrion, he did look rather pale.

"I'm fine." Jaime replied.

With that, he got up from the table and walked directly out of the hall leaving the company at the table looking and feeling confused.

"Maybe he got jealous about the Wildling." Bronn piped up, causing a laugh from The Hound and a slight smile from Tyrion and Pod and a huge scowl from Brienne.

"Will you shut the fuck up!" Brienne snapped glaring at all of them, standing up from the table and walking straight out after Jaime.


	6. Chapter 6

Jaime was not too far ahead of her and Brienne was able to catch up with him almost instantly. He had heard her coming and stopped walking and turned around to look at her.

"Are you alright?" She asked him softly.

"I already said I am fine. You really didn't have to come after me just to check." He asked, a slight bite to his voice which made Brienne flinch slightly.

"Well, I didn't really want to stay in there after all of that." She said, grimacing slightly.

Jaime did not respond, he just remained silent, just looking at her. It was becoming a tiny bit unsettling when finally Jaime spoke.

"Do you like the Wildling?" He asked looking away from her as he spoke the words.

Brienne was confused by the question. She did not understand why Jaime was asking her this question but all that was going through her head was Bronn's previous comment.

"What? Why would you even ask that?" She responded, frowning at him.

"I'm interested. Its fine if you do you know." He said, looking like it was absolutely not fine.

"Well thank you so much for your permission but I do not like him so can we drop it now?" She finally answered, snapping at him.

"Why don't you like him?" Jaime asked her as she sighed exasperatingly.

"Why are we even having this conversation? I thought we were going to discuss what is wrong with you." Brienne responded, desperate to try and move their conversation on.

"We are." Jaime said, his eyes feeling as though they were bearing into her soul.

Brienne looked at him and felt her eyes widen. She was pretty sure she just heard Jaime say that they were already discussing what was wrong with him and yet she had been under the impression that all they were talking about was whether she had feelings for Tormund.

And then it hit her. She realised exactly why Jaime was behaving the way he was and she had absolutely no idea how to deal with it.

"Are you- are you jealous?" She spluttered out, instantly regretting the level of forwardness she was showing and regretting it even further when she saw Jaime's reaction.

"Of course not. I don't know where you got that impression from." Jaime responded in a very unconvincing manner whilst looking rather sheepish.

"Good." Brienne stated, not believing Jaime whatsoever.

She didn't fully understand what was going on and was extremely confused by the whole situation. What she did know for sure was that Jaime had undoubtedly acted weird and jealous when Tormund had been mentioned and now he was denying it. It didn't really make much sense to her but with all the comments people had been making that day, things were slowly becoming clearer in Brienne's head.

With that, Jaime turned to walk away leaving Brienne even more confused and frustrated at him.

"Where are you going?" She called after him, not wanting to follow him again for she deemed it completely pointless after the last time.

"To spar. Are you going to come wench?" He said, spinning around and grinning at her.

She stared at him. He seemed to have perked up again and her head was spinning with uncertainty about the entirety of their interaction. She had followed him for answers but only ended up with more questions.

"Don't call me that." She said, trying to fake a scowl but accidentally ending up giving him a little smile instead.

The sides of his mouth twitched and he walked back towards where she was still standing.

"Come on, Lady Brienne." He said, placing emphasis on the 'Lady' part, making Brienne realise he was doing it on purpose to wind her up.

She rolled her eyes and supressed a loud sigh.

"Fine."

Brienne followed Jaime out into the yard fully intending to not go easy on him at all as payback for the amount of perplexity he had brought to her that day.


	7. Chapter 7

Before they had the chance to spar as they had planned, they saw Bran, who was being carried towards them. Brienne saw Jaime turn as white as a ghost. There were rumours that the Lannister's had played a part in the fall that Bran had that lost him the use of his legs but Brienne never really had more detail than that. She didn't really know if even the Starks knew the full story as it was to her knowledge that Bran had disclosed very little about the events of that day.

Brienne noticed how awful Jaime looked upon being approached by Bran, who was now getting closer and closer towards the two of them.

"Are you okay?" She asked Jaime, lightly placing a hand on his left arm.

He turned to look at her as if to say something but it was too late for Bran was finally beside them.

"Jaime Lannister", the boy spoke, "I saw you travel here and I saw the real reason why. I want you to know that matters of the past are forgotten for if you had not done what you did that day I would not be here before you now as the Three Eyed Raven."

With this, Jaime looked a little less peaky but alternatively rather perplexed. Brienne had realised with Bran's words exactly the part the Jaime had played in the boys accident and her heart stopped momentarily. She realised that Jaime had been the one to push Bran from the tower. It made a lot of sense why Jaime looked so ghostly when he saw Bran come towards him but she knew that Jaime was a very different man now to who he was back then and she also knew that Bran had shown his awareness of Jaime's change. She wondered if either of the Stark sisters were aware of what Jaime had done but decided that it was very unlikely considering Sansa's positive reception of Jaime and how Arya hadn't tried to kill him yet.

"What I did to you is possibly one of the worst things I have ever done and I have been ashamed and haunted by it ever since. I am so sorry for what I did." Jaime spoke to Bran in soft voice, unable to look at the boy.

"As I said, it is done. I am no longer Bran and therefore it is not something that concerns me anymore. Forgiveness is key, especially with how important you will be in this war." Bran responded.

With that, Bran left, leaving Jaime and Brienne alone once more. They stood in silence for a while before Brienne spoke.

"Why did you do it?" She asked him in an almost whisper, as she turned to face him.

Jaime did not look at her. He looked at the ground, noticeably ashamed. He took his time before he finally answered her question.

"He saw Cersei and I together. It was a snap decision that I should never have made, but I had to make sure the situation between Cersei and I remained a secret." He responded, finally looking back to Brienne as if to gage her response.

"A child, Jaime. No matter what you were trying to protect, you crippled a child." She said, knowing instantly after the words left her mouth that she had been too hard on him.

"I regretted it instantly, I really did."

Brienne looked at him, properly looked at him, and noticed the pain in his eyes. She knew he was sorry and felt guilty for what he had done. She knew he did not need her giving him a hard time for it and she really did not wish to fall out with him after how up and down they had been with each other since he arrived at Winterfell.

"I know. You are not the same person now as you were then and you have made your peace with Bran now and that is all that matters." She said, smiling at him rather weakly.

Jaime mirrored her smile and looked at her as if he wanted to say something but decided against it. Brienne was fed up of feeling like Jaime was holding back from her and so decided that she may as well just outright confront him on it. She may be completely wrong in doing so, but she felt like after all of the events of that day that they really needed to discuss what was going on between them. Jaime was clearly reluctant to do so and she refused to just keep letting him be difficult. He had been at Winterfell short of a day and she was already tired of the confusion and not knowing.

"You have been very strange with me since you got here. You keep looking like there is something you want to say and then saying nothing. Then there are the comments like what your brother said and I know he did say something and whilst you may wish to deny it I don't. And I don't think I can endure another meal time with all the teasing from everyone when I don't even know what is going on You were acting out earlier when Tormund got mentioned and I know you said you don't feel any sort of jealousy but Jaime are you sure? I just don't understand why else you would act like-"

He kissed her.


End file.
